You wish to be alarmed for any new work by this artist? Please enter your email.
-
Read biography ARTIST ALARM
Biography of Pascal Barat
(Copyright photo portrait : Patrick de Wilde)
Born in Paris in 1955 to painter parents, Pascal Barat no doubt owes his passion for painting to this environment. Essentially self-taught, he attended the Beaux-Arts Paris workshops for a while. After a professional detour through the graphic arts in the press and publishing, he has devoted himself exclusively to painting since the early 2000s. Inspired as much by prehistoric cave artists as by contemporary painters, he works on a half-abstract, half-figurative approach, an organic suggestion where the material vibrates and comes to life under the light.
His path is in the spiritual lineage of those who, through the simple use of ochre and charcoal, produced pure parietal masterpieces 40,000 years ago. As he likes to say, quoting Bernard Lorjou: "Painters are the only men who have changed the least [...]. Since the cave age, our tools have not changed. A piece of coal is enough for us to express ourselves". His admiration also goes to Pierre Alechinsky, Eduardo Chillida, Antoni Clavé, James Coignard, or Antoni Tàpies, among others. Pascal Barat's research is therefore based on the traces, imprints, and stigmata that the mineral presents in the multiplicity of its forms and colors. He tries to capture them, to penetrate them, to restore their essence through his technique and his sensitivity. In his recent work, he reinterprets the lapidary signs of the stonemasons of the 11th and 12th centuries.His creations are intended to be silent witnesses of this haunting and irremediable erosion of the quality of things that in their very transformation tirelessly produce beauty. Animated by the transmission and the sharing, Pascal Barat accompanied artistic workshops for young adults in situation of handicap. He has been exhibiting his work since 2004, both individually (Christian Siret, Paris, 2004; Grand'Eterna, Paris, 2015; Maison de la Culture, Ville-d'Avray, 2016...) and collectively (Art Fair Zürich, 2015; Art Cité, Fontenay, 2016; Chapelle des Ursulines Lannion, 2018; Salon Comparaisons - Art Capital, 2015-2020, Signes et Traces group; L'Art est un jeu d'enfant, Gordes, 2021, Galerie Noir et Blanc, Bastia, 2023 ; Chemin des Artistes, Châteaudouble, 2023).